HEALTH: PS Resigns

Speculation surfaced last week about the possible resignation of the Principle Secretary for Health, Peggy Vidot.

TODAY has learnt that the Principal Secretary for Health, Peggy Vidot has handed in her resignation. The Ministry has not confirmed the report, but according to reliable sources, Mrs. Vidot handed in her resignation last week, days before her current contract comes to an end on 15 March. It is not clear whether the resignation of Mrs. Vidot’s resignation has anything to do with the recent turmoil in the ministry of Health.

Pressures have been piling up in recent weeks, especially after the President, in his first cabinet meeting following December’s Presidential election, said ‘there are certain areas, such as Education and Health, where the concerns of the public are especially acute. The Ministers concerned should take steps to urgently address their problems.” This resulted in an uproar by health professionals including doctors and nurses who feel they were being made scapegoats over issues they have no control of.

According to former health minister and now leader of Lalyans Seselwa, Patrick Pllay, things came to a head recently during a meeting the minister for health and senior health officials who they stood their ground and accused management of using them as doormats and to shred their self-respect to pieces, just to cover their own shortcomings.

In a recent letter to TODAY, a medical practitioner said the crisis in the ministry of health was nothing more than a result of “years of poor administration and mismanagement which had led to an impoverished working environment.”

A well qualified nurse and midwife with a masters degree in health services management, Mrs Vidot joined the Seychelles Ministry of Health in the late 70s and was director for health planning and operational research at the ministry of health when she was selected for a top post with the Commonwealth Secretariat in London in August 2003.

She was responsible for developing and implementing projects and activities to achieve the millennium development goals of commonwealth member countries.

Upon her return to Seychelles from her stint at the Commonwealth Secretariat, Mrs. Vidot was appointed as the Special Advisor to the Minister for Health in July 2013. A later, in June 2013, she became Principal Secretary for health.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Vice President Dany Faure, Mrs Vidot said she believed every single health professional deserved every respect from everyone for what they do. “Very often, they work in extremely difficult circumstances that require a lot of their time, effort and compassion,” she said, adding that most of them were performing to the highest level.

PS Peggy Vidot (2nd from left) meeting with VP Faure yesterday.

She said when she took over in 2013 as PS, they began a modernisation process where different structures have been put in place – each with its own role to ensure that the health system functions better. Mrs Vidot said she believed that, in itself was an achievement. “There are a lot more things I would have loved to accomplish,” she added, acknowledging that there were areas in healthcare that can still be improved.

There had been speculation that her resignation was linked to the recent criticisms against the ministry of health especially after the President’s harsh words on the health and education systems in the country. Mrs Vidot said her departure had absolutely nothing to do with these. “The decision to leave is mine alone. I feel I have contributed my fair share towards the health system in Seychelles. I have been a nurse since I was 18 years old and the time has come to stop, to be with my family and to do the things I want to do,” she said.

However, PS Vidot said she was ready to continue to help the health system in the country through other means such as consultancy work.